Automation windows for robotic process automation

Abstract

Automation windows for robotic process automation (RPA) for attended or unattended robots are disclosed. A child session is created and hosted as a window including the user interfaces (UIs) of applications of a window associated with a parent session. Running multiple sessions allows a robot to operate in this child session while the user interacts with the parent session. The user may thus be able to interact with applications that the robot is not using or the user and the robot may be able to interact with the same application if that application is capable of this functionality. The user and the robot are both interacting with the same application instances and file system. Changes made via the robot and the user in an application will be made as if a single user made them, rather than having the user and the robot each work with separate versions of the applications and file systems.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the program configured to cause at least one processor to:
 launch a child session window and a child session, wherein the child session is a child of a parent session for an operating system and the child window is located within a parent window of the parent session; 
 initialize a robotic process automation (RPA) robot in the parent session as a process; and 
 execute the RPA robot, wherein 
 during execution, the RPA robot executes an RPA workflow comprising a plurality of activities within the parent session, 
 the parent session and the child session have access to a common file system, and 
 the RPA robot is an attended robot and a user interacting with an instance of an application via the child session does not interfere with the RPA robot interacting with a different instance of the application or an instance of a different application via the parent session. 
 
     
     
       2. The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein when executing the plurality of activities in the RPA workflow, the RPA robot interacts with one or more common applications running on a computing system that are accessible via both the parent session and the child session. 
     
     
       3. The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the computer program is further configured to cause the at least one processor to:
 initialize another RPA robot in the parent session; and 
 execute the other RPA robot. 
 
     
     
       4. The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein when the RPA robot is an attended robot and a user attempts to interact with an application that the RPA robot is interacting with, the computer program is further configured to cause the at least one processor to:
 display a message to the user in the child session window indicating that the RPA robot is currently accessing the application. 
 
     
     
       5. The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein
 the parent and child sessions are launched at design time, 
 the RPA robot performs an attended automation, and 
 an integrated development environment (IDE) application executes on a computing system associated with the child session and is configured to initiate the attended automation. 
 
     
     
       6. The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the parent session and the child session run on different computing systems. 
     
     
       7. The computer program of product  claim 1 , wherein the parent session window, the child session window, or both, comprise a window representing a user interface (UI) displayed within a main UI, a second screen of a second display of a computing system, a virtual desktop, or an isolated environment. 
     
     
       8. The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the launching of the child session window and the child session, the initialization of the RPA robot in the parent session, and the execution of the RPA robot are performed via a remote computing system. 
     
     
       9. The computer program of  claim 1 , wherein the RPA robot is an unattended robot. 
     
     
       10. A computer-implemented method for performing attended automation for robotic process automation (RPA) at design time, comprising:
 launching a child session window and a child session from an integrated development environment (IDE), wherein the child session is a child of a parent session for an operating system and the child window is located within a parent window of the parent session; 
 initializing a robotic process automation (RPA) robot in the parent session as a process; and 
 executing the RPA robot, wherein 
 a user operates in the child session, 
 during execution, the RPA robot executes an RPA workflow comprising a plurality of activities within the parent session, 
 the parent session and the child session have access to a common file system, and 
 the RPA robot is an attended robot and a user interacting with an instance of an application via the child session does not interfere with the RPA robot interacting with a different instance of the application or an instance of a different application via the parent session. 
 
     
     
       11. The computer-implemented method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 receiving status messages from the RPA robot during robot operation; and 
 displaying the status messages in the IDE. 
 
     
     
       12. The computer-implemented method of  claim 10 , wherein when the user provides a command to terminate operation of the RPA robot, the method further comprises:
 terminating operation of the RPA robot. 
 
     
     
       13. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the program configured to cause at least one processor to:
 launch a child session window and a child session, wherein the child session is a child of a parent session for an operating system and the child window is located within a parent window of the parent session; 
 initialize a robotic process automation (RPA) robot in the parent session as a process; and 
 execute the RPA robot, wherein 
 a user operates in the child session, 
 during execution, the RPA robot executes an RPA workflow comprising a plurality of activities within the parent session, 
 the RPA robot is an unattended robot, and 
 the parent session and the child session have access to a common file system, 
 the RPA robot is an attended robot and a user interacting with an instance of an application via the child session does not interfere with the RPA robot interacting with a different instance of the application or an instance of a different application via the parent session. 
 
     
     
       14. The computer program product of  claim 13 , wherein when executing the plurality of activities in the RPA workflow, the RPA robot interacts with one or more common applications running on a computing system that are accessible via both the parent session and the child session. 
     
     
       15. The computer program product of  claim 13 , wherein the computer program is further configured to cause the at least one processor to:
 initialize another RPA robot in the parent session; and 
 execute the other RPA robot. 
 
     
     
       16. The computer program product of  claim 13 , wherein when the user attempts to interact with an application that the RPA robot is interacting with, the computer program is further configured to cause the at least one processor to:
 display a message to the user in the child session window indicating that the RPA robot is currently accessing the application. 
 
     
     
       17. The computer program product of  claim 13 , wherein the parent session and the child session run on different computing systems. 
     
     
       18. The computer program product of  claim 13 , wherein the parent session window, the child session window, or both, comprise a window representing a user interface (UI) displayed within a main UI, a second screen of a second display of a computing system, a virtual desktop, or an isolated environment. 
     
     
       19. The computer program product of  claim 13 , wherein the launching of the child session window and the child session, the initialization of the RPA robot in the parent session, and the execution of the RPA robot are performed via a remote computing system.